Birks Fields Her Team

No chief of staff. No general counsel. No labor relations director.

All of those positions have been removed from the organizational chart that Superintendent Carol Birks presented to the Board of Education for approval at its Monday night meeting at Celentano School.

In the face of a $19 million budget deficit, ambitions are being scaled back across the district, from the expansion that Birks had wanted on Meadow Street to the promotions that assistant principals eyed in vacant offices.

At Monday’s meeting, as she presented her plans, Birks celebrated the smaller cabinet and the reshuffling of six principals, as if they were the choices she would have made anyway.

An audience of parents and teachers gamely cheered along, clapping especially loud for one assistant principal who thanked them for letting her do a job she loves.

The restructured cabinet will include a deputy superintendent, a chief financial officer, a chief operating officer, a chief of talent and performance management, and an executive administrative assistant.

In a change from Birks’s first draft from a month ago, three assistant superintendents for instructional leadership (essentially, the principals’ bosses) will report directly to the superintendent.

The deputy superintendent will also oversee two assistant superintendents — one for curriculum and assessment and one for early childhood education — plus the chief of youth, family and community engagement.

Compared to former Superintendent Garth Harries’s 2015 chart, the top-level administration Birks has proposed will shrink by at least two spots.

Birks said she plans to split a chief of staff’s responsibilities between herself and whoever becomes deputy superintendent. The city’s corporation counsel will also step up its involvement in providing legal advice.

Even with a smaller cabinet, Birks will still have to make a lot of hires. That’s because most of the positions went vacant during Reggie Mayo’s stint as interim superintendent. The district had been running, for instance, without a chief financial officer to watch over the budget and a chief academic officer to plan the curriculum.

Board members previously expressed concern about how much the new executive hires would cost, but on Monday, they didn’t comment on Birks’s proposal.

(They may have wanted to discuss it privately. They unanimously voted to go into executive session to discuss ​“personnel matters.” But the Independent informed them that state law required more specificity about who would be discussed behind closed doors. Birks phoned a lawyer, and a few minutes later, the executive session was called off.)

Job postings for these positions have been up for at least two months, and interviews largely wrapped up last week, Birks said. The postings will stay up a little longer because Birks has heard a few last applications are still coming in.

She added that she plans to present her selections to the board in early August.

Hamstrung On Principals

Birks had less choice with her first round of principal assignments.

Due to the administrators union contract, principals with seniority have a large say in where they’ll be staffed next year, she said. Sometimes, that can undercut a site-based selection process.

“We have to find people roles. While we had assistant principals apply, we have to place principals first,” Birks said. ​“I hope everyone sees this as a great thing, because we’re moving forward on the path of continuous improvement and we are going to provide these schools with a lot of support.”

But Birks did get to make one promotion.

Dina Natalino will take the helm at Bishop Woods Academy next school year. An assistant principal at Wilbur Cross for six years, Natalino most recently served as watched over the district’s biggest high school while Edith Johnson was out on maternity leave.

(“I own a lot of red and white,” she said. ​“Bishop Woods might have to change colors.”)

As she looked out on the faces in Celentano’s cafeteria, her mentors and her colleagues, Natalino thanked everyone for trusting in her to take the next step up, including the family members who’d been there for her throughout her two-decade career.

“I’m constantly talking about my kids, my kids. And a lot of times, I’m talking about my students. My sons at first would say, ​‘Mom, we’re your kids,’ but they’ve stopped saying that,” Natalino said. ​“They know they’re my kids at school and they respect that, and they know how I love them more than anything in the world, even though they often have to share my time. I’m blessed to have the greatest support team ever for a job I love.”

During the meeting, Birks told other assistant principals not to be discouraged that they were passed over for promotions.

Four have left already this year. King-Robinson’s Tessa Gumbs-Johnson and Hillhouse’s Digna Marte both resigned to take other jobs outside the district, while Quinnipiac’s Linda O’Brien and Truman’s Iris Troutman both retired.

“We have to respect our collective bargaining agreements. We have to place people rather than promote,” Birks said. ​“Please know we believe in you and we intend to invest in you. Stay in New Haven.”

Rev. Cousin: Give Birks A Chance

Earlier Monday, a prominent local minister and civic volunteer urged the Board of Ed to go easier on its new superintendent.

The Rev. Steven Cousin of Bethel AME Church on Goffe Street made the pitch during an appearance Monday on WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven” program.

Cousin said he’d been observing the public criticism leveled by Board of Education members in recent weeks against Superintendentl Birks, along with efforts to reverse some of her actions. (Read about that here and here.)

“We have to allow a way for her to make decisions,” said Cousin, who speaks up during public portions of Board of Ed meetings and who sits on the Fire Commission as well as the Policemen and Firemen’s Pension Fund.

Cousin pointed out that Birks is in only her fourth month on the job. And that the Bord of Ed members criticizing her pushed hard to hire her in the first place during a fractious selection process.

“One hundred twenty days on the job. How much can she really get done without our support? If you fought like crazy to get her here, I think she’s worth the risk to let this play out, to see where this goes,” said Cousin, whose son attends Davis Academy for Arts and Design Innovation Magnet School.

He credited her with making tough choices — swiftly closing Creed High School and combining alternative high schools — to start chipping away at a $19 million deficit. Cousin said closing schools alone won’t close that full gap; he argued that Birks is correct to look at laying off part-time workers, a step for which she has come under criticism.

He also praised her for presenting more detailed financial information than had previously been offered at board meetings, and for making a point of highlighting students at those meetings who won a culinary competition and a high-schooler who outperformed most other students in the world on an AP chemistry test.

Cousin noted as well Birks’ success in landing state money. In her second week on the job, the state Board of Ed asked if New Haven intended to apply for bond funding. Birks said it was the first time that any employee had heard about it. Her team quickly put together a proposal — and received $957,063, the most of any district in the state.

The money will pay for upgraded classroom projectors at L.W. Beecher as well as an expanded playground at Brennan-Rogers and Truman. All three schools will also buy personalized learning devices for all their students. Fair Haven will undertake the most ambitious projects by transforming the current computer lab into a design studio with virtual reality goggles, refurbishing the science lab, updating the auditorium, repairing the playground, and installing projectors in all classrooms.

“I think she’s doing a phenomenal job,” Cousin said.

Paul Bass contributed to this story.

Click on the play arrow to hear the full interview with Rev. Steven Cousin on WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven.” Topics included church updates, the fire department, police pensions, state politics.